Israel is lobbying the Trump administration to allow it to bomb Iran's civilian infrastructure , Israeli news media reported Tuesday amid fears in Tel Aviv that the US president is looking to find an off-ramp to the devastating regional war .
Israeli officials have told Washington that a large-scale attack on the country's power plants and other infrastructure could collapse the regime and are looking for Donald Trump to sign off on what would be a serious escalation in the one-month conflict, according to Yedioth Ahronroth .
Trump has in recent days talked up the prospect of a ceasefire and repeatedly pledged to exit the war in the coming weeks. But he has also threatened to further intensify the bombing campaign if Tehran does not agree to end the war, including by destroying the country's electricity grid and desalination plants, a probable war crime under international law.
US officials are also contemplating a ground offensive to seize strategic Iranian territory and have deployed thousands of additional troops to the region.
The pattern of attacks suggests Israel has attempted to close off routes for a quick diplomatic settlement, including by assassinating potential Iranian interlocutors and escalating the war by bombing civilian infrastructure.
Israel's attack on Iran's gas field last month drew a public rebuke from the US president after Iran responded by striking energy facilities across the Gulf, including Qatar's critical gas processing complex.
Israeli officials are now trying to convince Trump that widening the war is the best way of ending it quickly and have drawn up a bank of targets should the US president agree, according to Yedioth Ahronroth .
This clashes with a recent US intelligence assessment, which concluded that the Iranian state is in no danger of collapse despite the devastating bombing campaign. Strikes continue This comes as fresh strikes were reported across the region.
Iranian media reported a renewed attack against a steel plant in Isfahan, while in Tehran, strikes targeted the compound of the former US embassy. In Israel, 14 people were wounded in an Iranian missile strike overnight.
Meanwhile, Qatar reported a missile strike on an oil tanker while Kuwait said a drone attack had destroyed fuel storage tanks at its international airport.
One of Kuwait's largest banks said Wednesday it would close all its branches for two days in response to Iran's attacks.
Iran has attacked civilian infrastructure across the Gulf in response to the war launched by Israel and the US. It has struck dozens of ships in the Arabian Gulf in an effort to restrict traffic through the Strait of Hormuz , which before the war carried a fifth of the world's oil and gas.
It has threatened to further expand its attacks to include American universities and companies in the region if the US and Israel escalate the conflict.
The UAE, which has taken the toughest stance against Iran among the Gulf states, on Wednesday barred Iranian nationals from entering the country. Ceasefire push Pakistan , which has taken the lead in regional efforts to end to the conflict, said on Tuesday that it drawn up a ceasefire proposal with China.
The plan aims to bring an immediate end to the fighting and start peace talks between the two sides.
Oil prices fell 5 percent on Wednesday after Trump once again pledged to end the conflict in the coming weeks.
The US would exit the war "very soon", perhaps within "two weeks, maybe three", he told reporters in the White House.
Iran swiftly rejected a list of demands sent by the Trump administration last month, which included dismantling its nuclear programme, suspending missile production and ending support for its regional allies.
In response, Iran demanded reparations for its wartime losses and to keep the Strait of Hormuz under its control after the war.